Iodine compositions have long been known to impart desirable antimicrobial characteristics. For example, Sutton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,869, Winicov et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,183, Cantor et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,965 as well as Schmidt et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,525,696 and 3,150,096 all disclose aqueous liquid or said iodine use dilution compositions for various uses.
Iodine compositions have been found preferable for any number of uses due to the high antimicrobial efficacy and nonstaining character of complexed iodine compositions. Iodine compositions are known to be useful as sanitizers for elements ranging from contact surfaces and glassware to plant formulation facilities. An especially important application for iodine compositions is in clean-in-place (CIP) systems. CIP systems are generally found in industries which produce fluidized ingestible products for humans or animals such as the dairy industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the food industry. Clean-in-place systems are generally regarded as large production plant systems having reservoirs, pipes, pumps and mixing vessels which cannot be broken down to be cleaned. Additionally, clean-in-place preparation systems often require high sanitization when used in the production of ingestible substances.
Previously iodine compositions were either formulated as liquids or as free flowing powders. In either case these compositions require stabilizing systems which are most often present at a concentration many times that of the iodine in the system. Moreover, these iodine compositions do not economize on volume or weight in that they obtain stabilization of iodine generally only at use-dilution concentrations
Such a high concentration of stabilizer can result in excess foaming which may cause inactivation of pump systems, foaming on application surfaces, and prevent rapid draining in warewashing operations. Thus, the high concentration of stabilizer may prevent the effective cleaning of pumps and pipelines. Also, stabilizer systems are often costly, and, as a result, may raise the expense of the clean-in-place composition to a premium which often cannot be justified for a composition which will be used once and then discarded.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solid iodine composition which contains a concentrated volume of iodine in proportion to the concentration of stabilizing agent thereby providing a system with reduced foaming and potentially increased sanitizing efficacy.